


The Power of Voodoo

by lucidscreamer



Category: Buffy the Vampire Slayer (TV), Labyrinth (1986)
Genre: 100 word drabbles, Aftermath of Possession, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Drabble, Drabble Sequence, Gen, Halloween Costumes, Magic, Possession, Transformation, YAHF, Yet Another Halloween Fic (BtVS)
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-07-08
Updated: 2019-09-03
Packaged: 2020-06-24 19:40:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 406
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19730452
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lucidscreamer/pseuds/lucidscreamer
Summary: Xander wears a very different costume on that fateful Halloween night. Things change... including Xander.(Yes, all right. The plot bunny has won. This is now officially a WIP and I have inklings of actual plot and an endgame in sight.)





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Title is taken from "Magic Dance" by David Bowie (from the movie Labyrinth).
> 
> Disclaimer: Buffy the Vampire Slayer is the creation of Joss Whedon. Labyrinth is the creation of Jim Henson and associates. No ownership of the canon characters, settings, or events is claimed and none should be implied.

The moment Xander saw the crescent-shaped pendant, his costume concept changed. Instead of military fatigues, he now sported an uneven blond wig, black armor, and a glittering midnight cape. He'd dithered over the make-up -- strange winged markings framing his eyes and slanting his eyebrows -- but... Authenticity. He carried a clear glass sphere in one black-gloved hand.

After the magic rippled through him, he cast a haughty look over the suburban street. Monsters, creatures and, oh yes, _goblins_ were running wild, creating chaos all around him.

Bracing his hands on his hips, the Goblin King threw back his head and laughed.


	2. Chapter 2

Thirteen hours after Ethan Rayne's spell ended, Xander heard what he later learned was a barn owl's shriek. In the days that followed, he imagined small, grotesque shapes leering at him from the shadows.

For twelve nights he dreamed of twisting, glittering stone walls rising to surround him as he ran through shifting pathways toward the massive castle looming over it all.

On the thirteenth night, he woke with music in his ears and power humming in his veins. Shadows danced on his bedroom walls. With a twist of his wrist, Xander plucked a perfect crystal from the empty air.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm aware that in canon the only effect Xander retained from his transformation into the soldier was information. But this is an AU -- and the Goblin King is just that special. :D


	3. Chapter 3

At first, Xander kept quiet about the lingering effects of his Halloween transformation. Some Big Bad was always threatening Sunnydale and his dreams were just weird, not even nightmares. Imagined shadow-shapes were just tricks of light and angle fooling his tired eyes. Certainly nothing to bother anyone with when they had bigger problems.

Days crawled by.

He craved peaches, consumed them to the pit, blushing velvet peels and all; caught snatches of song from silence; heard the unspoken truths between words. He dreamed of impossible stairways leading no-verywhere, of shedding human shape for an owl's wings.

He kept the crystal close, hidden -- a shining, dirty secret.


	4. Chapter 4

Something strange and wild lurked just beyond the borders of Xander's perceptions. It didn't feel exactly of the bad. Tricky and elusive and not entirely _safe_ , sure.

But there was also a sense of certainty that gradually settled into his bones as if they were being hollowed out for that very purpose. He felt untethered, as if his feet trod lightly on the earth, ready to take flight. Waiting for wings.

He knew that nothing could change what had already happened ( _what's done is done_ ). Could anything change what was happening to him now? If so, did he _want_ to?


End file.
